Russia was never on my radar to visit, until one of my best contractors, Denis, invited me to visit him and his wife Marina in St. Petersburg. Denis has been working for me for five years and this is the first time we have ever talked or seen each other. His correspondence with my staff and I has always been email only.

I couldn’t have asked for better hosts. They are warm, friendly, relaxed, accommodating people and amazing guides who showed me many parts of their beautiful city. They took me to amazing restaurants, a boat ride,  visit to the world famous Hermitage museum, a concert, walks around the city to see the beautiful bridges, amazing cathedrals; St. Issac’s , Savior On Blood , Kazan and a beautiful park. We discovered we had a lot in common with our outlook on life and had some amazing conversations. I found them to be very impressive people and a truly lovely couple. I know I have made some new friends with two very special people. 🙂

The week I visited happened to be the beginning of the White Nights where the nights never turn completely dark. I had never had this experience before. It was beautiful, at times it really felt odd. I think my body was a bit confused by it – staying up later than usual.

The Bridges of St. Petersburg. There are 342 bridges in St. Petersburg! The city is built on many islands with the bridges connecting it. Every night at 1:15 am in the city center there are 3 bridges that open for 4 hours for large boats to pass through. During the warmer months this is a grand event for everyone living in St. Petersburg and people go to watch. Many smaller boats wait and then travel through all the bridges along side the larger ones.

 

One of the subways in St. Petersburg is 282 feet deep because it has to go under the river. The entire city is actually built on little islands. It is one of the deepest subways in Europe. It was the longest escalator ride I ever had! 😜

 

 

 

 

 

On a funny note…. this was the wiring in the hallway of our Air B&B. They tell me this is totally normal in the older buildings. Inside the place it was totally normal and modern. 😆

 

They showed me some of the local musicans in the Summer Garden Park and amazing chamber music by Beethoven, Mahler and Schubert at the Mariinsky Theatre Concert Hall.

Denis and I called these guys predators… they were very aggressive and asked for quite a bit of money for playing with you – 500 rubles = $10! We laughed at them going after their next victim.

A truly magical experience and as an American an eye opening one.  All my life I have heard about Russia being our enemy. Particularly with the current political environment, my daughter was concerned about me coming here and I had several Americans ask me why I was going. I don’t like the current leader much, but the people I met are here are lovely. Hmm… a lot like our current situation in the US. 😳  I would encourage anyone to visit Russia and any other country other than the US. The only way we are going to have any peace in the world is to meet each other and embrace our cultural differences. I would love to visit again to see more, since I only had a week this time. Thank you so much for your friendship Denis and Marina! 💗